Attorneys ask North Carolina DA to recuse himself from Andrew Brown Jr. case

Attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown, Jr., whom police fatally shot in Elizabeth City, N.C., are asking a district attorney to recuse himself from the case.

The lawyers sent a letter to District Attorney Andrew Womble, whose district covers Pasquotank and nearby counties, asking for his recusal over his “well-defined” relationship with the sheriff’s office, CNN reported.

The letter, led by family attorney Bakari Sellers, asked Womble to “immediately recuse yourself” from the case.

Officers fatally shot Brown on April 21 after attempting to serve an arrest warrant for drug-related charges. Seven deputies were placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

Womble argued in a court hearing late last month that Brown hit law enforcement officers with his car before they shot him, The Associated Press reported at the time.

The attorneys told Womble there was “no doubt all seven officers involved, including the three shooters, have worked directly with you and your office for years in prosecuting various cases,” the attorneys wrote according to CNN.

“You and your office not only work with Sheriff Wooten and his deputies daily, your office physically resides in the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s department,” the letter states. “The conflict is well-defined.”

The Hill has reached out to Womble for comment.

The letter comes the same week that a superior court judge issued a written ruling allowing members of Brown’s family to see less than 20 minutes of the two hours of body camera footage from before and after his death.

Pasquotank County Sheriff said on Friday that the family will be shown the footage on Tuesday, according to WAVY.

The FBI’s office in Charlotte has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Brown’s death.